Etymology
From Middle English sliten, from Old English slītan (“to slit, tear, rend, shiver, split, rend to pieces, cleave, divide”), from Proto-West Germanic *slītan, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *skleyd-, *(s)kelH- (“to cut, trim”).
Cognate with North Frisian slitten (“to clear, make void”), Dutch slijten (“to wear, waste, ravel out”), German schleißen (“to trim”), Swedish slita (“to rip, tear”). Doublet of slit. More at slice.